All posts by joowonpark

Work in Progress : The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Compositions, , , , ,

I’m in charge of the sound and music for The Renegade Company’s upcoming theatre production. The company will reinterpret The Hunchback of Notre Dame in a silent movie style. There will be no dialogues in this nightmarish and grotesque version, and my electronic sounds will fill the space instead.

The director of the company proposed me to make a painful sound to reflect the main character’s suffering.  The play is set in Quasimodo’s dream, and therefore the sound should also convey Quasimodo’s severe hearing damage as well as his emotional state. I imagine that many years of playing the church bell may have caused Quasimodo tinnitus or ringing in the ear.

The most challenging part of this project is that I will not be able to attend some of the shows as I will be 7+ hours away from the theater (a beautiful church in Center City Philadelphia). Despite this geographic challenge, I do not want to make a fixed audio file for this project.  Instead, I want to make an easy-to-operate  software that make unique sounds for each show.  I also decided to focus on the emotional aspect of the characters.

HunchBackProto

The instrument I am building has four emotion sliders: fear, happy, sad, and anger. Each emotion currently has 3-4 different sounds that are controlled by corresponding slider. Also, there are buttons to turn on a sound that simulates tinnitus  and trigger bell sounds.

Below is an example sound of what my current system can do. I improvised for about 6 minutes by combining different emotions as well as triggering tinnitus and bell sounds.

For the actual show, I expect that the sound guy will do the following  tasks:

  1. Press emotion buttons whenever there is a scene or character change. The button will randomly trigger a sound. For example, Quasimodo’s happy sound could be different from Esmeralda’s happy sound.
  2. Increase the slider as the character’s emotion intensifies. For examples, if Quasimodo is little sad, put the slider to 30%. If Quasimodo is extremely sad, crank up the slider to 100%. The change in slider movement will change the “intensity” of the sound. There are many different interpretations of intensity in this software.
  3. Click Tinnitus button. The sound is very long and emotionally draining
  4. Click Bell button according to the play’s cue. The bell sound has an algorithm to play different resonances every each time.

There are many benefits of composing a software instead of recording tracks.

  1. The sound can response more flexibly to the character’s action, especially at improvised sections.
  2. The music sound different every time it is played. They will sound familiar, but the details will be different (think about a jazz pianist interpreting a standard. The pianist would play the same chord progression, but the actual resulting sounds are different every time).
  3. The software is easy enough to be operated by anyone. I shouldn’t have to be there to create sounds.

I’ll be meeting with the director in few days to show my progress. If the director likes the idea, I continue to work on it. I’m also waiting for the response of a percussionist. If he is available, there will be a live percussion accompaniment on top of the electronic part. If he’s unavailable, the sound needs to be a little more exciting.

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts on the sound and performance approach. Does it resemble the sound world of Quasimodo’s nightmare? Do you foresee any technical troubles?

Sound and Fury

Influences, , ,

When I was researching on deafness for my current project, my audiologist friend Erin Desmarais suggested me to watch Sound and Fury. As a person who values hearing the most important asset and skill, this documentary about deaf culture was a shocking eye-opener. Below is the summary  of the documentary from PBS.

SOUND AND FURY documents one family’s struggle over whether or not to provide two deaf children with cochlear implants, devices that can stimulate hearing. As the Artinians of Long Island, New York debate what is the right choice for the two deaf cousins, Heather, 6, and Peter, 1 1/2, viewers are introduced to one of the most controversial issues affecting the deaf community today. Cochlear implants may provide easier access to the hearing world, but what do the devices mean for a person’s sense of identity with deaf culture? Can durable bridges be built between the deaf and hearing worlds? Find out.

I assigned my acoustics students to watch the documentary and write their opinions on whether the protagonist should get the cochlear implant or not. The followup debate was loud and full of emotions.

A simple YouTube search will give you an access to a full documentary and its short sequel (watch the original first!). I strongly recommend it to all my music friends. We musicians cannot imagine the life without sound, and it is fascinating to learn about the culture that does not have/need sound. Find out the “fury” portion of the documentary by yourself.

PS: My research on deafness was for this upcoming show. More information will be posted at therenegadecompany.org soon.

hunchback

dRachEmUsiK

Collaborators, , , , ,


Charles Shriner (aka dRachEmUsiK) and I collaborate as Side Dish Side Affect.   We released an  album in May 2014, and I am very happy with the result. Below is a track in the album called Fermented Stingray.

Charles probably has been performing electronic music before I even got my first synthesizer. He is a multitalented musician who runs a record label, produces albums, tours as a performer, broadcasts a weekly radio show, and runs an electronic music festival (check out charlesshriner.com for his credentials). If you need a music tech guy in Indianapolis, I strongly suggest that you contact Charles.

SDSA

I first met him at Electro-Music Festival in 2009, and became friends ever since. I particularly remember his excellent improvisation workshops and open-mindness to all kinds of music.  Charles and I also share love of good food. We named our group after a homemade Korean dinner at my place. I still remember the taste of an oxtail dish I had at Charle’s place during the recording session. Even our track names in the album are crude translation of Korean side dishes.

Please join Side Dish Side Affect when we come to your town for a gig. Let us also know a good restaurant in your town. Meanwhile, dRachEmUsiK + Onewayness is starting a tour next week. Check them out!

John Oswald

Influences, , ,

I met John Oswald when I attended Orford Sound Art Workshop in 2006. Initially, I was quite nervous about meeting the composer I read in the textbooks. Like other participating students, I was tense and eager to show how good and serious I am about learning sound art.

After spending two weeks with him, I learned that my imaginations about famous artists were quite different from their real personalities. I think the photo below exemplifies what kind of “workshop” I had with him.

John Oswald (left), Joo Won Park (right), a hand (center)

In addition to an impromptu swimming in the lake, John led a contact improvisation (for a bunch of music tech people), organized a field trip to a Gregorian chant-singing monastery, and shared good foods and drinks. I went to the workshop to work 24/7 on electroacoustic techniques, but John inspired me to have fun doing music. His music is playful but not silly. His compositional techniques are often transparent, but virtuosity and hard work are definitely present. When listening to his pieces, I smile and learn at the same time.

oswald contact improvisation

I guess I had my Karate Kid moment with him. Instead of wax on wax off, I swam, danced, and got drunk to be a better musician. After a few discussions with John, I decided to make a sound palindrome for the final presentation. The idea was to make a piece that sounds exactly the same when played forward and reversed. The piece is not plunderphonics, but I liked what I did (click here to read and listen). A year after the workshop, I worked a little more on the palindrome idea and made a longer piece (click here to read and listen). I like it even more.

PS: If you are not familiar with John Oswald’s work, search for his plunderphonics pieces as a start. He’s easily found at Google and Youtube. For me, plunderphonics goes beyond remix or remake of a song. Have a listen.

PSS: John was great, but I also met other inspiring composers in that workshop. Expect  separate posts about Yves Daoust and Ake Parmerud in the future.

No Ideas But in Things

Influences, , , ,

I love Alvin Lucier’s music. I still remember the strange mental state I experienced when I heard I Am Sitting in a Room for the first time in 2000. Watching No Ideas But in Things,  a recent documentary about Lucier, reminded me that, but also taught me a few new things about his work ethics and aesthetics:

1. Lucier knows, thinks, and composes acoustics. He is fond of how sound affects rooms, ears, electronics, and everything around. He is fond of converting invisible or inaudible things in our world into sounds. I resonate with his approach on music more than ever because I struggled to teach Musical Acoustics last semester.

2. A significant amount of his pieces are written for him, or other non-virtuoso solo performer (or no performer at all). I was happy to realize that I am following his path, as I am interested in developing solo electroacoustic repertoire for the past few years.

3. He is a good and experienced teacher.  I know that there are few things that I could only have learned and understood through teaching. I wonder what Lucier has learned from his students during his years at Wesleyan University.

I have met Lucier twice. The first was at a conference in 2006 where he was a featured artist. I was fortunate to talk to him at the hallway and get a sign on my I Am Sitting in a Room CD.

SignedLucier

The second instance was purely coincidental. I was at my favorite Chinese Restaurant in Philadelphia, and I found him eating a meal by himself a few tables away from me. I approached him and thanked for all his work, and he informed me that he is visiting Philly to present a concert. I cancelled all my schedules and went to see the concert where he played Opera with Objects (the first piece you see in the DVD trailer.

To end this post, I would like to share my take on I Am Sitting in a Room.